Parents accused of locking teens in basement

Couple charged with imprisonment and neglect or abandonment

9:01 PM,
Nov. 8, 2012

Written by

Joel Aschbrenner
| Des Moines Register

Two Iowa teenagers allege they spent about a month as prisoners in their own basement.

The adopted teens' parents have been arrested on imprisonment and neglect charges.

Paul Alan Drake, 45, and JoAnn Marie Drake, 44, reportedly locked their 13-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son in the basement for three to four weeks. They allegedly fed the teens under the locked door and allowed them out only to attend school, according to reports cited by Ankeny police Chief Gary Mikulec. ...